Buyouts to come at New York Times

12/3/12 9:17 AM EST

For the third time in five years, the New York Times is set for a new round of buyouts, including about 30 positions from the news side.

In a memo to staff, Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger said he had asked executive editor Jill Abramson, editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal, and general manager Scott H. Heekin-Canedy "to identify significant cost savings -- including buyouts -- throughout The New York Times Media Group."

"As we all know, these are financially challenging times. While our digital subscription plan has been successful, the advertising climate remains volatile and we don’t see this changing in the near future," Sulzberger wrote.

In a seperate memo, executive editor Jill Abramson told editorial staff that the "economic environment has grown more difficult in the second half of the year and I must reduce costs in the newsroom... there is no getting around the hard news that the size of the newsroom staff must be reduced."

"In the next few days, all excluded employees will receive a buyout package. If you are an excluded employee, please read through the packet carefully and consider whether accepting a voluntary severance package at this time in your life makes sense," Abramson wrote. "I hope the needed savings can be achieved through voluntary buyouts but if not, I will be forced to go to layoffs among the excluded staff. I expect that I will have to reduce the excluded staff by about 30 positions."

The Newspaper Guild, which has recently been in contract negotiations with the Times, has also asked that Giuld employees be given the opportunity to apply for buyouts, which Abramson said the Times had agreed to do.

"While we will continue to invest where needed to ensure our role as a global leader in news and information, we must make some difficult decisions to lower our costs," Sulzberger wrote. "Our business-side colleagues will continue their efforts to find staff reductions and other efficiencies, but it is now impossible not to look also within the ranks of our news operations."